This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-64584 filed on Oct. 19, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a computer, and more particularly, to a computer having an improved structure with a first bracket and a second bracket.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer system comprises a computer, a monitor to display a picture, and an input unit to input a predetermined signal.
Referring to FIG. 12, a computer 301 includes a computer casing 310 in which first and second brackets 330 and 340 are provided as one body. Typically, on the first bracket 330 is mounted a peripheral device 335 such as a CD-ROM drive, a DVD (digital versatile disk) drive, etc., and on the second bracket 340 is mounted an auxiliary memory 345 such as an HDD (hard disk drive), an FDD (floppy disk drive), etc. On one side wall of the computer casing 310 is installed a main board 320 mounted with a CPU (central processing unit), a RAM (random access memory), etc.
With this configuration, to assemble the computer 301, the main board 320 is fixed on one side wall of the computer casing 310, and then the peripheral device 335 and the auxiliary memory 345 are inserted within the first and second brackets 330 and 340, and are fastened with bolts 332 and 342, respectively. Thereafter, the peripheral device 335 and the auxiliary memory 345 are connected to the main board 320 with a connector (not shown), so that the assembly of the computer 301 is completed.
However, in the conventional computer, it is difficult to separate the main board from the computer casing in order to repair or change the main board because the second bracket and the auxiliary memory accommodated therein block the separation of the main board. More particularly, not only for the reason that the second bracket cannot be separated from the first bracket, but also because the auxiliary memory accommodated in the second bracket projects over the second bracket, the second bracket and the auxiliary memory block the movement of the main board, thereby obstructing the separation or installation of the main board.
To solve this problem, the size of the computer casing is required to be enlarged, but this results in the inability to provide a compact computer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer having a compact computer casing without interference between hardware components.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention may be accomplished by providing a computer comprising: a main casing; a first bracket mounted on the main casing and accommodating a first peripheral device; and a second bracket removably connected to the first bracket and accommodating a second peripheral device.
The first bracket may be fixedly mounted on the main casing. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the first bracket may be removably mounted on the main casing. At least one of the first bracket and the second bracket is provided with at least one guiding projection protruding therefrom, and the other one of the first bracket and the second bracket is provided with at least one guiding groove to slidingly accommodate the guiding projection.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the guiding projection is formed of a pair of guiding projections spaced from each other by a predetermined distance and provided on the lower plate of the first bracket, and the guiding groove is provided on the upper plate of the second bracket and accommodates the pair of guiding projections.
Further, the guiding groove comprises: a first groove parallel with a line that links two guiding projections so as to accommodate the pair of guiding projections; and second grooves extending from the first groove and guiding a front side of the second peripheral device to be exposed, the second grooves forming a pair of grooves spaced from each other by a distance corresponding to the distance between the guiding projections and are substantially perpendicular to the first groove.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the computer further comprises a removal protector preventing the second bracket from being voluntarily removed from the first bracket. In this embodiment, the removal protector comprises: hook holders respectively formed on opposite side plates of the second bracket; and hooks respectively formed on opposite sides of the first bracket so as to be hooked to the hook holders. Further, the computer casing comprises a hook releaser to release the hooks from the hooking holders.
In this embodiment, the hook releaser comprises: a pair of ribs extending from both edges of the front end of the first bracket; an accommodating part formed at each rib; a bar stem supporting the hooks and movably connected to the accommodating part; and a spring disposed between the bar stem and the ribs and elastically restoring the bar stem to a hooking position such that the hooks are hooked to the hooking holder. In this embodiment, at both ends of the bar stem are provided a pair of coupling parts, respectively, which are slimmer than the bar stem so as to be inserted in the accommodating part of the rib.
Here, the computer casing further comprises a bar head provided at one end of the bar stem to prevent the spring from coming off the bar stem. Further, the computer casing comprises a stopper provided at the other end of the bar stem to prevent the bar stem from coming off the insertion part of the rib.
In this embodiment, the at least one guiding projection comprises: a first guiding projection provided on the lower plate of the first bracket; and a second guiding projection spaced from the first guiding projection and protruding from the lower plate of the first bracket; and the at least one guiding groove comprises: a first guiding groove provided on the second bracket and connected with the first guiding projection; and a second guiding groove provided on the second bracket and accommodating a second guiding projection.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the at least one guiding projection comprises: a first guiding projection provided on the upper plate of the second bracket; and a second guiding projection spaced apart from the first guiding projection and protruding from the upper plate of the second bracket; and the at least one guiding groove comprises: a first guiding groove provided on the first bracket and connected with the first guiding projection; and a second guiding groove provided on the first bracket and accommodating a second guiding projection.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the second guiding groove partially has an arc shape. As stated previously, the second guiding groove can be located on either the first bracket or the second bracket as two alternative embodiments. Here, at least one of the first bracket and the second bracket is provided with a hooking rib and the other one thereof is provided with a rib groove, and the hooking rib and the rib groove are removably connected to each other. Additionally, the first bracket or the second bracket is provided with a rotation stopper limiting rotation of the second bracket by a predetermined angle. The rotation stopper enables the first and second brackets to be connected to each other with a screw so as to reinforce the combination thereof with the screw.